One of my goals in Spain was to force myself to use my Spanish until it got better-the only reason I am not fluent is that I've been very shy about talking in Spanish because my accent is very strong.
In Madrid I made a sign that said (in Spanish) "I want to practice my Spanish. Do you want to talk to me?" I sat down in a Starbucks, put the sign on the table, and pulled out a book. Within half an hour I was approached by a Venezuelan girl who was in Spain visiting family. We talked for half an hour. As long as the other person is also trying to help, I can understand what's going on. It was really good to realize that, because up until that point I had been feeling like I couldn't communicate at all.
By the time I left Madrid I was able to hold conversations in Spanish with people at my hostel (it helped that many had American accents), ask for train schedules, and buy a train ticket entirely in Spanish.
People said that in Madrid most people don't know English, so I would have to speak Spanish. That wasn't my experience, at least in cafes and restaurants. Almost every waiter or waitress spoke English.
In Barcelona most people don't switch to English when I talk, so either I'm getting better at this or people here have enough going on with Spanish and Catalan, and don't need to add English on top. My accent has softened by being able to listen to so many other accents, and my confidence in my use of the language has gone up.
I've also been reading more in Spanish while I've been here, and even that has gotten easier.
Overall report on mission USE MY SPANISH: success.
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